Not sure what the solution is.

I have something that is becoming a really big problem, and have been weighing options for month now. In another 6-8 weeks, the issue will become so devastating that it will be unbearable for me.

In our area, we have a cat problem. I didn't realize how bad it was until I tried all the shelters and rescue facilities.

I have a colony of cats that I've been feeding, and they multiplied like you wouldn't believe. The shelters tell me that my problem is minor compared to some people who have as many as 60 cats living on their property.

It started with an outside cat that's been around for years. She's even the mother of one of my house cats that I brought inside 3 years ago, and everything was fine. She hung around, got fed by me regularly. sometimes you'd see younger cats and kittens around, but, they never came for food. Only her.

then last winter, we had a deep freeze in this area, and so we insulated a little two room house for her on the porch, and her two teenage kittens she had at the time, lived there. Since those kittens lived on the porch, they changed from feral to stray ... and got used to being fed.

they had kittens, and kittens again. Now, there's a whole colony and I have to get rid of them and there's no place to take them. Nobody is taking in cats because the area is overrun with them. By summer, I could have 40 easily.

But, now, it's worse. those kittens had kittens ... but, still they remained feral enough that they still hunted. They weren't totally dependent upon us. However, right now, I have 5 kittens who are completely dependent on us, and live on the porch. They're starving. I feed them, but, their babies ... they need to be fed more regularly. their mother dropped them off to me when they were around 2 weeks old and now .. the two boys .... they will be driven away once their balls drop, and I can't bear that.

I have to deal with this now, and there is no place to take them. My husband has something to say about it, but, won't, and I know why. For him to tell me we have to exterminate them will be like a stake driven through my heart.


But, then, I am very practical, and will do what is best, regardless of my feelings.


There's has to be another solution. I cannot continue to feeding them and let them continue to grow. Some areas have a trap-neuter-return problem, but, my county isn't one of them. Even still .... to have them all here and altered is still feeding over two dozen cats, half of whom is only eating small portions because they are kittens/youngins.


What do people do?


There are two females who have recently given birth ... and I haven't seem their kittens yet. But, surely will soon. And will have to start providing more food. Since the county knows now because I called them not realizing the magnitude of the problem, they registered me as having a colony, albeit still small ... and told me I HAVE to feed them. I cannot stop.

It's a horrib

Why did you never have any of these animals spayed? I know you're dealing with the aftermath now, but a little foresight would have gone a long way.


That being said, many shelters have a sharing arrangement where they'll ship extra overflow to shelters that have space.

Have you asked about that?

ALWAYS SPAY AND NEVER YOUR PETS!!

It's a horrible fuck up on my part. It started with me trying to help a cat and her kits. I don't know the solution.


If the solution is to exterminate them ... I wouldn't even know how to even begin something like that. I mean, I pick all the little ones and kiss and have named for christs sake ... I can't just go out there and snap their necks.



What would you do?

I'm a huge cat lover, and I'm at work right now so no time to really digest it atm.

Later today I'll be able to put some thought into it.

Hopefully someone will have a suggestion or two for you.

Get a dog? The dog might run them off.

I've heard of some cities with programs where cats that can hunt are "hired" for natural pest control. They might be able to have them fixed in exchange.

Posted by WhiteChocolate
Look up some of the feral cat groups in your area. Many of them will trap the cats for you and have them fixed. Since they are feral and can't be adopted out, they'll release them back in your area. We needed to do that after a single pregnant female cat decided to make the woods near our house it's territory. We were overrun in a year and a half.

We still have the cats around but no NEW cats. So we get some free squirrel and mole control in the neighborhood at least.

This.

Dang...literally trying to herd cats

@truecap ..... getting a dog is one of the better options, and we've been thinking about it.


I'm a dog lover and have always owned one, usually multiple at a time. We have been dogless for a couple years now, and the cats probably wouldn't have gotten bad if we had gotten another.

I was thinking a terrier, since they like to chase.

Hey P, have you tried getting help from other organizations besides animal shelters? Perhaps a church or someplace can help.

MissFisk, I have checked out the rat poison at a couple stores.

It doesn't come in powder form, only little cakes that go in traps.

I definitely don't want them to suffer. How long did it take for his cats to die?

Yes, beautifulsoul ..... apparently, this area is in bad shape.

I don't know how the whole thing works out but, apparently it has to do with the bear population being overrun to keep coyotes out.

Bear hunters just leave bears lay where they're killed, and this was bringing in mass quantities of coyotes ... so they've order a temp ban on killing bears. Now the bears are so bad that they'll come in houses to get to trash.

somehow, as this has developed the past several years, it's effected the feral cat populations and I'm not clear of the connection. somehow that is relative.

Posted by P-Angel

Yes, beautifulsoul ..... apparently, this area is in bad shape.

I don't know how the whole thing works out but, apparently it has to do with the bear population being overrun to keep coyotes out.

Bear hunters just leave bears lay where they're killed, and this was bringing in mass quantities of coyotes ... so they've order a temp ban on killing bears. Now the bears are so bad that they'll come in houses to get to trash.

somehow, as this has developed the past several years, it's effected the feral cat populations and I'm not clear of the connection. somehow that is relative.

I see. Smh, man...you don't want to off those poor little creatures but it's looking like that may be the case.

I don't know if you have FB. If you do, maybe you can put up a post a get some people outside the area that'll take them in. There are a lot of people that would that don't go the shelters.

Jesus Christ, don't resort to poisoning because of your mistake.

How many are there? Pick 2 or 3 that you want to keep, have them spayed (trap them if you can't touch them), and find a cat rescue to relocate or rehome them.

Shelters are only one resource.

In my area a few years ago, we had a problem with feral hogs. They were dangerous and destructive. The county paid out like $ 2- $ 5 a head for every dead hog people brought in. The people could dispose of them however they wanted and the majority donated a lot to struggling families for food. Of course, cats won't be used for food, but if it's that bad, the county could do something similar.

The same thing happened with me and cockroaches, we moved to the country for 2 years and rented our house to these hippies, when we got back we had cockroaches and we've gone to a lot of lengths to kill them but I found I can't bring myself to do it anymore and I told mum that I'd rather move than kill another mother, seriously I felt like hustler killing mothers with their eggs....so yeh that's my advice, move house that way they only have the,selves to rely on

Posted by sultrykitty
, and find a cat rescue to relocate or rehome them.

.

To rehome the rest of them.

I wonder where I could buy arsenic.


Of course, we live on the side of a mountain, up in the hills. I could aways just use a little .22


So far, I like the dog solution. It's been a couple years since our last dog died ... it's time for another, anyway.

It would have to be an older dog though ... because a puppy would think it's normal to have a bunch of cats hanging around. Whereas a dog not used to having cats about would bark at them and chase. So long as the cats stayed away, they would go back to hunting, and their feral instincts would take back over.

In fact, about a month ago, the mother cat caught a squirrel and brought it to the bed. It had been pouring down rain and I guess she thought the rain would effect us being able to fed her babies, so she caught them food. So, a feral cat never loses the ability to feed themselves.


The problem are the small ones who never learned to hunt. If I kept the 5 small ones, and brought them inside and gave them antibiotics (which I have a lot of), I could run the others off, and so they would take the small kittens I haven't met yet.

Exterminating would probably be the most humane thing to do, though.

Feral cats are the worst. I know a few places around town near stores where lots of cats live. Truth is they go to where the food is, so maybe you, husband, friend, or who ever could build mini cat shelters out of plastic then just heard the cats to a haven in the woods. This one guy I know did just that by she smoke shop. Back in the woods are a bunch dozens of little shelters and he feeds them when needed.

Posted by cheekyfaerie
Your county doesn't have a catch and release, but do you know anyone in a county that does, that could help you with the most dependent of your cats?

It's 55 dollars for female and 45 for male. nothing is for free.

I thought, if I altered the males, then that would just be one alpha, and one beta ... but, my vet said that the females would just go slut up to another male on someone elses property, and then bring him home to fight his way into alpha position, which wouldn't take long since the ones here would be fixed. So, that idea was nixed.

I don't want to fix them, though. If I alter them, then they'll definitely stay. These are feral cats, they can always fed. They won't go hungry. But, so long as I feed them, they will hang around and keep breeding. So, I have to figure a way to get rid of them.

If I put a dog out there suddenly and these females have babies all around that I just can't see ... they might gang up on the poor dog and tear his ass up.

No, spayed females will stay feral. Females are territorial anyway, spayed or not.

And with all the talk of poison, I'm out.

Posted by P-Angel

Posted by cheekyfaerie
Your county doesn't have a catch and release, but do you know anyone in a county that does, that could help you with the most dependent of your cats?

It's 55 dollars for female and 45 for male. nothing is for free.

I thought, if I altered the males, then that would just be one alpha, and one beta ... but, my vet said that the females would just go slut up to another male on someone elses property, and then bring him home to fight his way into alpha position, which wouldn't take long since the ones here would be fixed. So, that idea was nixed.

I don't want to fix them, though. If I alter them, then they'll definitely stay. These are feral cats, they can always fed. They won't go hungry. But, so long as I feed them, they will hang around and keep breeding. So, I have to figure a way to get rid of them.

If I put a dog out there suddenly and these females have babies all around that I just can't see ... they might gang up on the poor dog and tear his ass up.

click to expand

A big dog then. My german shephards used to kill anything that came into the yard - coyote, deer, cats, skunks, racoons, snakes, guineas, you name it.

Posted by P-Angel

Posted by cheekyfaerie
Your county doesn't have a catch and release, but do you know anyone in a county that does, that could help you with the most dependent of your cats?

It's 55 dollars for female and 45 for male. nothing is for free.

I thought, if I altered the males, then that would just be one alpha, and one beta ... but, my vet said that the females would just go slut up to another male on someone elses property, and then bring him home to fight his way into alpha position, which wouldn't take long since the ones here would be fixed. So, that idea was nixed.

I don't want to fix them, though. If I alter them, then they'll definitely stay. These are feral cats, they can always fed. They won't go hungry. But, so long as I feed them, they will hang around and keep breeding. So, I have to figure a way to get rid of them.

If I put a dog out there suddenly and these females have babies all around that I just can't see ... they might gang up on the poor dog and tear his ass up.

click to expand

A big dog then. My german shephards used to kill anything that came into the yard - coyote, deer, cats, skunks, racoons, snakes, guineas, you name it.

Posted by Soul

..... heard the cats to a haven in the woods.

.... he feeds them when needed.

My property is on the side of a mountain. I am the woods that cats get hauled off to.


In fact, I have one cat that was dropped off here. He showed up a couple months ago, and is the nicest big boy, who is house broken and definitely not a wild cat. Now that it's getting colder, he's bitching because I won't let him in the house. The vet said he was neutered about 4 years ago, and he's very healthy.

A friend of ours has an older cat and just lost his other older cat, and now the one left is lonely and needs another ... but, he doesn't want a baby. So, I think this 4 yo might be a Christmas present.

The kittens (the ones living on my porch) are the ones I'm most concerned about because they never learned to hunt.

My vet said that they know how, that all cats know how ... they just don't.

Maybe the first thing I should do is stop feeding them for a couple days and see if the big babies go hunt. I guess they are around 3.5 months old now.

I like truecap's idea.

I can bring in the Christmas cat, and the kittens (then I'll have to keep 5 new cats) ... and then run off the others back deeper in.

We had a golden retriever and a yorkie .... they always kept the forest animals at bay.

Posted by sultrykitty
And with all the talk of poison, I'm out.

yea, poison is a terrible way to go. if it really has to come to that, a bullet is a much more merciful way for them to go. definitely a last resort though

It's sad but many feral cats die over winter, expecially young. House cats were made to be taken care of by humans for one. Not saying they don't have the instinct to hunt, but how much can a cat really find in the winter? The strongest and smartest will survive, but the rest get sick and die.

You are going to have to contact someone or several

someones in the county that has trap and spay and

release and ask for their help.

They participate because they give a damn...

if you keep at it you will eventually find

someone who will be willing to help you.

Posted by Soul

Not saying they don't have the instinct to hunt, but how much can a cat really find in the winter? The strongest and smartest will survive, but the rest get sick and die.

Depends on the location. Here, there is ample supply of food for cats year round.

Unfortunately, a lot of animals get lost during the winter. A friend of mine has long-horns, and he lost two calves due to the weather last winter.

Posted by sultrykitty
Why did you never have any of these animals spayed? I know you're dealing with the aftermath now, but a little foresight would have gone a long way.


That being said, many shelters have a sharing arrangement where they'll ship extra overflow to shelters that have space.

Have you asked about that?

ALWAYS SPAY AND NEVER YOUR PETS!!

i agree. I would get them all neutered and spayed. I'd sneakily capture all of them, get them inside my home, and viola!!! capture with yummy food. then call the vets (actually call beforehand to find out if there is an organization that neuters/spays cats for a discount or low cost, or there are some that do it free - doubt it, but at least call around) then if there's 40 cats, get them all neutered/spayed, and there you go. hmm if there's 40 cats, it's gonna be pricey. let's say it's 20 bucks for each cat, that's 800 dollars right?

hm that is too much. Ok. get a donation going. Spay and Neuter cats, put a sign up in the nearest grocery store, wherever, events, ect. and ask for donations, for a good cause. That cats are running wild, and they will destroy animal life too, with the overrunning and they too suffer with so much of them around. It's not good for them.

Posted by sultrykitty
And with all the talk of poison, I'm out.

Sometimes, you have to be practical ....


My vet said that Advantix, which is for dogs, would kill them.

Again, though, I don't know if that is immediately or prolonged suffering. I won't do prolonged suffering.

Posted by Montgomery
You are going to have to contact someone or several

someones in the county that has trap and spay and

release and ask for their help.

They participate because they give a damn...

if you keep at it you will eventually find

someone who will be willing to help you.

or call the pound, but the pound kills them if they aren't picked up after a certain amount of time.

Posted by FrostAndBite
And my guess is that the coyotes were probably hunting small cats. So if there's not as many around then it allows the population to grow.

oh yeah ... lol, now that was easy to figure out.

Posted by lisabethur8

I'd sneakily capture all of them, get them inside my home

Feral cats cannot be handled.

We have animal traps ... we like in the woods, lol

* live

Like I said, according to my vet ... even these babies know how to kill and eat.

Just because they come running to me and sleep in the bed .. doesn't mean they aren't cats. The animal shelter says otherwise .. they say cats will starve and not hunt if you start feeding them.


maybe that is where I should start with this .... maybe I need to find out if it's instinct for baby cats living on the porch - to kill and eat birds, and rodents.


I have cats already, and all of them kill and eat outside even though I feed them well inside.


So, maybe this is all in my imagination and that these cats would fare just fine if I stopped feeding them. However, the two little boys will still be run off once their balls drop. So I have to alter the little ones next month regardless.

All of the shelters, rescue organizations and humane society are all on over load and won't take on more cats .... they tell me I am on my own.


Maybe I'll get lucky and a cat with feline leukemia will wonder up and infect everyone else ... then nature would have taken her course, and dispose of them for me.

Posted by P-Angel

Posted by lisabethur8

I'd sneakily capture all of them, get them inside my home

Feral cats cannot be handled.

We have animal traps ... we like in the woods, lol

click to expand

i thought cats are domesticated??

well it's worth the effort to try and get donations going to take care of the cat problem.

i was at my mother in law's and noticed that she has one of these birds on display she bought in Austrailia. It's a New Zealand bird, the type that can't fly but run. They are pretty much extinct because of the overrun of cats.

I dont know how New Zealand took care of their cat problem but they had to, due to the extinction of other animals. Just saying....overpopulation of cats is no good either.

i think in English it's called a Kiwi,

I'm surprised there isn't a cat board at DXP already

Feral kittens cannot be handled, unless humans have interacted with them by age 2 weeks.

Sometimes, a kitten will follow you, or rub next to your leg ... but, if you reach down to touch them, the mother will attack.

The little ones I have now, which are around 3 and half months old .... were brought to me by the mother. She abandoned them on my porch at/around 2 weeks. I never saw them before that time, so it's my assumption that they were around that age.

I have two females that have recently given birth in my forest nearby because the mothers come to eat ... but, I haven't seen the kittens and I have no clue how many there are.

A guy friend said that his family uses anti-freeze when the forest animal population gets to be a nuisance. He said that the smell and taste of anti-freeze is very attractive to animals and they will drink it up. It also kills them. His problem is mostly opossum and fox, with an occasional skunk.

The only problem I have with something like that is: I have pets, and they would drink it also, so I can't do that.

The county told me that it's on me. In other words, they told me without saying it - exterminate them.

I could talk to the hunters (which one of my friends is a professional bear hunter) ..... the hunters usually know what the counties are doing in terms of thinning out animal populations. Even though hunters have certain prey, they will hunt down/out any animal that the counties tell them need be. So, it's possible that they might start clearing out the cats. If so, I'll just get him over here. He can accurately target a great distance.

Again ..... my main concern are the 5 little ones who don't hunt, and are dependent upon me. Mostly the 2 little boys, who will be forced out by the alpha into the deep .... and if they don't know how to hunt, then they'll starve. They think they're starving now, since I only feed them twice a day .... I can imagine how horrible they would be if they had to leave the colony.

I wonder ... if I alter the two little boys, then would the alpha (or beta) still drive them away?

Thank you for the information, Nem. I cannot read it right now, but, I will in a little while.

Soon, the little boys will drop their testicles ... and I have to act before then.

I needed help, and some people in here really gave me good advice.


thanks to all of you 🙂

That was very informative, and a lot of it is true. In fact, one of my domestics got bit about a month ago. We didn't even realize it until his whole back end swelled up to the size of a lemon overnight and was very hot with fever. He had to stay at the vet overnight and be on a drain to get all of the puss out. Because it was his tail end, the vet assumes he was probably running away.

That second link gives numbers to call for professional removal, and though none of them are in my area, certainly the closest one would be able to give me the name of someone in my area, or close enough.

thanks Nem, that helped a lot.



cheeky, I'm thinking the same thing. I will probably alter the little ones and then get a dog to drive the adults away. They'll take their babies with them. I feel bad doing that to them because they trust me. But, it is what it is, and they have to go.

So, it's either they get driven away by a dog, or I'll have to exterminate them.

Posted by cheekyfaerie

Posted by elusivexy_spirit
How many do you have exactly?

Have you tried giving them away for free? Kijiji your kitties.

Dunno about where P Angel lives, but I've lived in places where you're advised not to advertise free pups or kitties because people use them to train their fight dogs.

click to expand

😱

Posted by cheekyfaerie

Posted by socrunchy

Posted by cheekyfaerie

Posted by elusivexy_spirit
How many do you have exactly?

Have you tried giving them away for free? Kijiji your kitties.

Dunno about where P Angel lives, but I've lived in places where you're advised not to advertise free pups or kitties because people use them to train their fight dogs.

😱

People put ads in the paper with a price of a few bucks. Most people won't actually make you pay, it's just the idea that if you were willing to, you probably have good intent.

click to expand

that sounds reasonable. I'd probably also mention requiring a short sit down interview before handing over the kittens.

a dogfighting scumbag might pay $ 5 for "live bait" (as they see it), after all, they'd already spend gas and time just driving over so may as well

but theyre not likely to bother sitting directly face to face with the current owner to chit chat and discuss their intentions, the home they'd offer the kittens, etcetera

I called my county again just because I'm stubborn ... and was told the same thing. They are overfilled with cats and won't take them. They are the Humane Society, and the only shelter in the county.

So, I called the next county over, and they said that they will euthanize them all for free, but, would like a donation. They will only do 1 per day. So, within a month, the property would be clear, except one thing .... if a female has milk, they won't euthanize and I have to return her, and feed her. They won't even spay her if she's still feeding.

So, I would have to keep 2 unsprayed females on the property and feed for a while. Toms will come to fight for them, so another problem will be presented. But, maybe I can create a real firm feeding regime, so that the ladies won't be able to create a new colony. And then once they have weaned their kits, off they go.

It's going to be hard not feeding all the ferals. We feed everyone out here. Deer, birds, squirrels, bears .... my husband puts salt blocks out, too. But, lesson learned. Feral cats aren't wild animals, they are pests.

Didn't think I would ever feel that way about a cat. I've had cats as pets my whole life. But, ferals aren't purry little kitty cats .... the're like an ant infestation.


Anyway, problem solved. albeit slowly, but, resolution has been found, and I won't have to kill them myself.

Solution: put the cats to work or find a way to milk them or something and make this a capitalist's dream.

First, stop feeding them. They will hunt, and if they overpopulate their hunting range, some will die. That's how things are naturally. I think the problem with the ferals fast population growth is because they're trying to stop coyotes coming in. Coyotes will hunt cats just like rabbits, etc.

Secondly, call around to some big barn/stable/farm properties and see if anyone would like a mouser or two or three. The cats won't get coddled, they'll have to hunt, some will get picked off by predators, but you'll thin your population down and spread them out.

Thirdly, once you have the population under control get any new ones fixed before they breed like rabbits, again. Plus side is that cats keep snakes away.

P-Angel, you are "just" psychotic...I mean really, you have a big fucking pussy problem? Are you fucking kidding me? I think you are full of shit. No, better yet I think you are a sociopath in some form being nasty to humans then acting like your world is crumbling over some cats and then talking about murdering them! wtf? You have some serious issues to work out.